20th Mar 2006 07:02
Wolverhampton& Dudley Breweries PLC20 March 2006 20 March 2006 For immediate release THE WOLVERHAMPTON & DUDLEY BREWERIES, PLC ("W&DB") Acquisition of Celtic Inns Holdings Limited ("Celtic") W&DB announces that it has acquired Celtic for £43.6 million on a debt and cashfree basis from Dunedin Capital Partners, Dr Ainsworth and existing managementand employees of Celtic, subject to an adjustment based on net working capitalat completion. The majority of the consideration was satisfied in cash withcertain employee shareholders receiving loan notes. The cash consideration wasfunded from existing bank facilities. Celtic has an estate of 70 community pubs based predominantly in South Walesincluding 21 in Southern England. The estate, of which approximately threequarters is freehold, comprises 63 tenanted outlets and 7 managed houses. TheCeltic estate is a good fit for W&DB's existing estate. As at the end of December 2005, Celtic's run-rate pub EBITDA and EBIT, beforecentral overheads, were £4.5 million and £4.2 million respectively. It isanticipated that the acquisition will generate annual purchasing synergies of£0.2 million. Commenting, Ralph Findlay, Chief Executive of W&DB, said: "The acquisitionrepresents good value for our shareholders and meets our returns criteria.Celtic has a good quality estate which complements our existing business bothoperationally and geographically. The acquisition also represents an excellentopportunity for Celtic tenants to access W&DB's industry-leading agreements anda much wider brand portfolio." Enquiries: W&DB 01902 329516Ralph FindlayPaul Inglett McQueen Limited 020 7667 6861Jim FallonGeorge Fleet Hudson Sandler 020 7796 4133Andrew HayesNick Lyon McQueen Limited, which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by theFinancial Services Authority, is acting exclusively for W&DB and no-one else inconnection with the acquisition of Celtic and will not be responsible to anyoneother than W&DB for providing the protections afforded to clients of McQueenLimited or for providing advice in relation to the acquisition of Celtic. Notes: (1) The Celtic estate includes two pubs where a purchase contract has beensigned and deposit paid but completion is scheduled to take place at a laterdate. (2) Run rate EBITDA and EBIT has been extracted from unaudited managementrecords and is based on moving annual total ("MAT") for the 12 months ended 31December 2005, adjusted to reflect full year estimates for those pubs acquiredafter 1 January 2005. (3) The statement regarding estimated cost savings relates to future actionsand circumstances which, by their nature, involve risks, uncertainties and otherfactors. Accordingly, the cost savings referred to may not be achieved, orthose achieved could be materially different from those estimated. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Marstons